Bike riding diaries.... take one...

So, living in Germany, where everyone rides a bike... The girls are dying to learn how to ride. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any training wheels that will fit a bike big enough to fit them! And at over 100lbs, each, they are hard to hold up. Jon tried to teach them last summer before he left... but it proved to be more of a challenge than we expected. The girls constantly want to back pedal, or watch their feet, instead of where they are going... The lessons were short lived as we all became frustrated with their lack of progress...

Fast forward 8 months... and they tell me yesterday that they really want to learn to ride a bike. So we are at it again... Keep your fingers crossed....

Here in Germany, (and maybe in the States now, since I've been away nearly 11 years, and out of the loop!) they have these 'starter bikes' without pedals... more of a tool to perfect balance, before moving a kid on to the next step. Of course they only make them for 3 year olds....
I had a bright idea yesterday, to let the girls try that with Leytons bike, which is shorter and easier to control. They spent a few hours trying to keep their balance, and I have to say, it was quite entertaining.... They will need a few more lessons, for sure... but I think now, they understand what they were doing wrong last year.